Canva vs Figma
At a glance
| Canva | Figma | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Starting price | $12/month billed annually | $16/month |
| Category | Design | Design |
| Best for | Designing social media posts and ads | Product designers creating UI designs and design systems |
Prices come from each official site and can change. Check the official pricing pages before subscribing.
Key features
Canva
- Drag-and-drop editor with 1,000+ design types
- 1.6M+ free templates; 3.6M+ including premium on paid plans
- AI tools to resize, translate, and remove backgrounds (Pro)
- Brand Kits for colors, fonts, and logos
- Social media content scheduling (Pro)
- Ad insights and AI ad creation
- Cloud storage: 5GB free, 100GB on Pro
Figma
- Collaborative design editor with components, auto layout and variables
- Interactive prototyping with conditional logic and expressions
- Figma Make generates prototypes and web apps from prompts
- Dev Mode inspection, Code Connect and MCP server for developers
- FigJam whiteboarding and Figma Slides presentations
- Figma Sites (beta) to design and publish websites
- Figma agent for on-canvas AI chat, generation and design feedback
Pros
Canva
- Free plan includes a large template and stock media library
- Easy to learn for non-designers
- Pro includes 141M+ premium photos, videos, graphics, and audio
- Free trial available for Pro and Business
Figma
- Real-time multiplayer editing in the browser and desktop app
- Free Starter plan, and paid plans let unlimited viewers comment for free
- One Full seat covers Design, Make, Dev Mode, FigJam, Slides, Sites and more
- Large plugin ecosystem plus REST API and integrations with Slack, Jira and Notion
Cons
Canva
- Free plan allows only 1 Brand Kit, limited to 3 colors
- AI usage is capped, with an extra-cost AI Pass add-on for more
- Less precise control than professional tools for complex layouts
- Business plan costs more per person, at US$250/year
Figma
- Starter plan is limited, including 500 AI credits per month and 20 MCP tool calls per month
- Organization ($55) and Enterprise ($90) Full seats are billed annually only
- Several products, including Sites, Motion, Buzz and Specs, are still in beta
- Advanced prototyping and design-system features take time to learn
Which one should you choose?
Choose Canva if you need
- Designing social media posts and ads
- Creating presentations, flyers, and posters
- Producing on-brand marketing assets for small businesses
- Making classroom materials and school projects
Choose Figma if you need
- Product designers creating UI designs and design systems
- Developers inspecting designs and pulling code via Dev Mode
- Product teams brainstorming and diagramming in FigJam
- Startups building functional prototypes with Figma Make
Canva vs Figma: FAQ
Is Canva better than Figma?
Neither is better for everyone. Canva: Online graphic design platform for creating social media posts, presentations, and more. Figma: Figma is a collaborative design platform for building products, offering tools for UI/UX design, prototyping, and developer handoff with integrated AI features. Pick Canva for designing social media posts and ads, and Figma for product designers creating UI designs and design systems.
Which is cheaper, Canva or Figma?
Canva's paid plans start at $12/month billed annually, compared with $16/month for Figma, based on each official pricing page at the last update. Limits differ between plans, so compare what each tier includes.
Do Canva and Figma have free plans?
Yes, both offer free access with usage limits. Paid plans raise those limits and add features.